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coline7373 · 3 days ago

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How to comment 101

A fandom is the subculture inherent to a group of fans. It touches anything related to the field of predilection of such a group of people and is organized or created by these same people. And, like everything that comes from people, it is alive and requires exchanges to continue to exists.

People who receive no comments have often and at length express how lonely it can feel to be shouting alone in the void and how discouraging such silence can be.

I have found after asking around that readers aren’t unwilling to comment, but mainly don’t have the energy or know what to say.

Some readers have also expressed a fear of annoying the author, as they are clumsy with words, or feeling intimidated in front of an author who has such a talent with words that the reader's own words feel too embarrassing. Or not feeling that their own five word sentence is worth the bother.

Every word matters.

Every comment is worth its writing to the author.

I refer you to this post if you doubt the importance and impact of comments on fanfics.

To help those willing to comment, I have done a very modest survey of roughly 20 persons, writers and readers alike, and here is what I have come up with.

For writers:

Write in your notes, at the end of the fic, clearly what type of comment you do not want.

Clearly stating your limits and preferences helps readers who are uncertain or not very verbose to write in a relaxed way.

If they do not have the anxiety of offending, vexing or annoying the author, they will be more comfortable and therefore more inclined to write.

If you have repeated commenters, try to reply to their comments, even with just a few words. Some people who do not receive replies to any of their comments take the lack of response to mean the author is not reading comments at all, feel discouraged and stop commenting in turn.

If you do read the comments, but don’t want to reply for whatever reason, do say so at the end of the fic, in the notes, so that readers know what to expect and not be disappointed.

For readers:

Do:

About the story:

You can write about a particular line that you liked, the themes, parallels with canon or within the story, the characterisation, a character’s exploration, a/several character’s motivation, a/several character’s mindset/thinking/emotional reaction, a/several characters’ interaction, the plot, the action happening, the worldbuilding, emotions within the fic, subtext, pacing...

If you liked everything and are overwhelmed on how to narrow it down, you can just say exactly that. “I loved everything!”

You can also focus on pointing out just one moment, one line, one specific thing and why you liked them, specifically. What matters is not that you wrote a novel but that you communicated to the author what made you happy, what you enjoyed.

About you:

What emotions the fic made you feel, what you think is going on in a wip or what you (think you have) figure(d) out, what you are doing in real life while reading the story, afterward, because of it, and/or how the fic impacted your life (yay! motivation to make art!), how the fic is meaningful on a personal level because x, y, z, what it made you think of, like another fic, a book, a song, a movie, what subject/fact it prompted you to discover more of…

How:

You can write an essay, a prose, or some serious, meaningful, impactful words but you can also joke with the author as long as you stay mindful or polite. A lot of authors have said they love when people make jokes or break the fourth wall.

Unsure about your sense of humor? Here is an example: do not write "I hate you! How could you do this to me!” Write "How could you do this? The betrayal! die offscreen.”

Making a parody of what is going on with the characters with a few lines can be funny! Keep it positive. Not everyone has the same degree of sarcasm. But levity and good humor are always welcomed.

Small fics vs longer fics:

Emojis, keysmashing and incoherent yelling are very often correct comments for small fics or drabbles. (Unless otherwise specified.)

They are also loved in longer fics, (unless otherwise specified,) but people who have been writing a story for literal years appreciate you taking at least five minutes to say a bit more than that.

Try to go through all the “about the fic” and “about you” points above, methodically, and choose just two or three of them. Then write just one sentence per point.

If you really don't know what to say, look at other people's comments. Sometimes, you will recognise something you liked too or that you thought was really good. It can help and be the starting point of your own comment.

Long WIPs:

For long fics that you follow while they are being written, people have said they have at first a lot of enthusiasm for commenting, but find it harder and harder to know what to say as the number of chapters accumulate, and so does the number of comments they feel obligated to give in turn.

Please, keep commenting! Love keeps the writers motivated and helps creativity. It’s like shouting in the void and getting a high five back.

Even one line about something specific (a dialogue bit, a reaction, a plot maneuver) can make an author happy.

Writers are not really looking for length or details. They are looking for care. If you read something you liked, just point out what you enjoyed. That's engagement enough.

Comments aren't really about the act of a compliment. They are about the shared joy of a fandom or a ship or a character.

Example: “'X character diving headfirst into the sea like that is so like him!”

It’s good. It’s fun. It’s nice.

Some people have said to “save” a chapter, give a kudo and say “looking forward to reading this when I have time!” and wait until they do have time and energy to comment more at length, sometimes two or three chapters at the same time.

It let the writers know their fic is still being read. You just have to be mindful to not let months go by, otherwise, it goes back to leaving the author the impression they invested hours, weeks, months, into something no one interacts with. You can alternate strategies, lengthy comments, short comments, and commenting on several chapters saved.

If all else fails, go back to the tried and true. Choose one of the points above, choose just two or three of them and then write just one sentence per point.

If you are not a native speaker:

Google can help with the bare minimum. It's not great, but it lays the foundations. Write what you think in google translate and the translation will help guide your answer. You can always ask for help from someone else or warn the author that the fic’s language is not your native language, if you are unsure if your words come off in a tone not intended.

At the start of your comment, say “I am not a native speaker”.

Do not apologize. It’s not necessary. Just provide context. Use your words. Be clear.

Remember:

The writer isn't what they write. They do not necessarily headcanon what they write, nor do they necessarily approve of it in real life. Be mindful to not approve or disprove of x, y, z going on in the fic as if they do. You do not know that.

It’s not about the length or the wording or the quality of your comments. Of course authors love that. But what they love most of all is to hold hands, jump up and down with you and squee and gush about the fandom, ship or character.

It’s about the sharing of the joy.

Don’t:

Do not ask for another chapter and for the author to finish a fic.

Do not threaten the author to put their fics in an AI if they do not finish the fic.

Do not say "I didn't like it" or "I liked but not that" or "It would have been better if x, y, z." If you want to talk about what you didn’t like, whether it’s part or all of the story, discuss it with willing friends. The author is not responsible for you reading something you didn’t enjoy (how it made you feel) and persevering.

Do not “offer” to correct typos, grammar, vocabulary, facts, canon facts, characterisation, ect. unless you know the author and know they are fine with it or they say so explicitly in the notes.

Do not make demands. Do not.

Like that tumblr op said, “this is not the bespoke zone.” This is off-the rack. If the free suit is not to your liking, look for another free suit rather than demand to speak to the manager for "adjustments."

Tags are not owed to you. Ao3 is not a safe zone. Not everyone agrees on what degree of content merits each tag. Or what qualifies for a tag. So, if you found a fic that was more angsty than you expected and it broke your heart, comment on a part that was good and didn't make you sad, without saying you want a happy ending to the angst fic that was written for angst purpose. Off-the rack, remember?

Exemple:

"I found x,y,z to be upsetting. Would you consider tagging it?"

Vs "Your work is totally x,y,z triggery. You ought to tag it."

Vs "Hey, you do know some people find x,y,z, triggery, right?!? Because they do! So tag it!"

One of those answers is correct. The others aren't. No demands in the comments.

Your emotional well being while reading fic is your responsibility. If your expectations have been disappointed, do not say so. Talk about a point that was positive for you. If your expectations have been exceeded, do share!

Also, if you're mad, I have found that it helps to write your comment, leave it to decant, and wait a week or so to see what it looks like when you're in a different emotional mindset.

Some elements of fics can be very upsetting unexpectedly. It is not the responsibility of the writer to answer that. Nor comments are the place for it.

Once some time has passed, if you still want to talk about it, try to communicate in a way that is neither demanding nor negative. If you can't, talk about it with someone who is not the author.

My own personal opinion:

It can be so easy to focus on the fic and your own inner imaginary garden/cinema, that we sometimes forget to switch from "inner life" to "outer life" and exchange actively with people on both sides of the fence.

But it can also add so much more to the experience <3

Clear communication is always good. Even if you disagree. At least you know where you stand.

Say thank you. Fanfics are a gift. You have been given one. Say thank you.

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blasphemousclaw · 5 months ago

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Like I do genuinely think they maybe should have replaced Radahn’s appearance with Godwyn’s instead? I know his soul has been slain, but I just like the idea that even the kindly Miquella is still on this naïve journey to become a god and bring back his dead brother to become his lord who honestly wouldn’t really be the same and would probably just be a husk of Death incarnate itself, but he wouldn’t care because he’s still grieving for him.

With that being said, the whole Metyr lore was super good, the whole reveal that the two fingers actually don’t really know what’s going on and they’re kinda just pulling shit out of their ass just adds a whole layer to the tragedy of the game, like all of these events were really for nothing and it just makes the Frenzy Flame ending and Ranni’s ending more understandable

ehhhh I absolutely see where the “it should’ve been Godwyn” mindset comes from and I agree with a lot of the arguments to an extent, but I’m not sure bringing back Godwyn’s soul entirely works for me?

I think Miquella’s attempts to return Godwyn’s soul were always going to fail, because his soul was completely and permanently destroyed by Destined Death. The ending to Gurranq/Maliketh’s quest is basically that things can never be the same again, so I don’t think there’s really a way to bring back Godwyn’s soul without it feeling like a contrivance? I really like the fact that he’s a character who can’t ever be brought back; his death was the catalyst for everything, a point of no return. Godwyn not being able to come back gives Ranni’s actions a special weight, that she was willing to permanently destroy his soul if it meant being free from the Two Fingers.

But with that being said, I absolutely see the sense in saying that Godwyn should’ve been Miquella’s lord. What’s strange to me is that Godwyn was set up in the base game to be a beloved older brother figure to Miquella — there’s the statue of him with Miquella and Malenia at the Haligtree, there’s the Golden Epitaph with Miquella’s prayer that he might die a true death, and there’s the spirit at Castle Sol, implying it was Miquella’s intention to return Godwyn’s soul through the eclipse. And now the DLC says that Miquella always looked up to Radahn as an older brother, when this relationship was never even hinted at in the base game, so it ends up feeling out of nowhere. If Radahn was always the one Miquella envisioned as his consort, then why is Godwyn the only brother he’s ever shown to have had a significant relationship with?

And, it’s also true that Godwyn ending the war against the dragons with diplomacy and bringing about peace really embodies what Miquella would consider admirable, since his quest in the DLC is in part to heal the hurts caused by Marika’s war of vengeance long ago. Radahn, on the other hand, is known for idealizing Godfrey, who helped Marika enact her wars of conquest, and for loving conflict so much that he literally fought the stars themselves. Miquella was said to have admired Radahn for his strength and kindness, but there aren’t really any instances showing Radahn being renowned for his kindness, except for his love for his horse? (the loyalty of his soldiers doesn’t count. Rykard had die-hard soldiers too and we know what he’s like)

On the other hand, I feel like Radahn as Miquella’s consort works thematically as a concept because Miquella’s journey in the Shadow Lands mirror’s Marika’s own ascent to godhood, and Radahn is like Godfrey’s spiritual heir. I’m also compelled by the idea of Miquella idealizing a young Radahn for his strength and kindness, only for Radahn to become corrupt during the Shattering, warring for the sake of war… which is why Miquella brings back specifically the young version of Radahn whom he idealized. It’s like a vision of Radahn colored by a child’s naïveté, and it belies the irony of beginning an “Age of Compassion” with the demigod who idealized war the most at his side. I think all of this makes for a more interesting story than Miquella somehow bringing back Godwyn’s soul.

BUT I still believe that this story was not developed enough. Again, we don’t SEE enough of Radahn’s relationship to Miquella hinted at beforehand, so this FEELS like a cheap plot twist. Godwyn was the one with the established relationship to Miquella in the base game, so it being revealed that Radahn was actually the one he always wanted to be his lord is like… huh? since when???

anyway I also really loved Count Ymir’s quest and the revelations about the Fingers… the Two Fingers say that the Greater Will hasn’t abandoned this realm, but I think it’s clear now that they’ve been without the Greater Will’s guidance for a long, long time. Since we know Count Ymir was Rellana’s teacher, I wonder if his distrust in the guidance of the Fingers somehow came to influence Ranni?

#asks #shadow of the erdtree spoilers

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cloudyskiiees · 4 months ago

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with the rest of wrong try again plotted out in full, i’ve started plotting out an idea for my next possible long fic. and it’s not a mystery so i can post about it now in case i don’t end up writing it in full!!! yippie!! so here’s my alenoah based superhero au :)

(under the cut cuz it’s a massive post)

i’ve been working on this idea slowly over the last threeish months!!! im happy with the ideas so far and wanna share what’s up to see if ppl are interested :)

the fic would be called “The Masked Mentalist,” in reference to our protag, Noah! he’s considered a villain in this au by society. alejandro is considered a hero.

here’s the characters and their powers i’ve got so far! still subject to change if needed :)

Noah: Villain. “The Masked Mentalist” is his given name by the city, although he doesn’t actually wear a mask. Noah has the powers of “mental manipulation,” stretching to about four different tiers that take more energy depending on how much effort it takes to manipulate the brain.

1: Audio hallucinations. He has a “trademark” of making the world go completely silent for his victim before he attacks. He frequently drops random noises or screams into his opponent’s head to throw them off. It harder to mimic specific voices, which is why he opts to throw ppl off rather than emotionally attack them. Easiest of his powers.

2: Visual hallucinations are harder, but it’s the one noah is the best at. He’s great as messing with people’s appearances, making them see him and other people who may be around as others or sometimes just in horrifying situations. It’s also very simple for him to make someone think they’re trapped in walls or things like that, easy to create objects. He still struggles to completely change the look of an entire location however, which is why he opts to fight in open areas where fake visuals are easier to conjure.

3: Emotions are harder as well, and it can be tricky. he’s very good at pulling emotions from others such as rage or grief, as they’re very easily overpowering emotions. It’s simpler when his opponent is a more emotional/vulnerable person, so he shys away from emotional manipulation in fights usually, especially when he doesn’t know an opponent very well.

4: Memories are hardest, especially if they’re more recent. It’s fairly easy for noah to go and change someone perception on a childhood memory, as it was likely distorted already anyways. The clearer the memory the harder it is to manipulate.

As you can see, all four of these powers have to do with the mind. The way people see or hear things, as well as feel and remember. Noah’s powers allow him to attack any of those in a person.

There’s also technically a fifth one, which Noah figured out to do by himself.

5: The way he figures out how to hypnotize people is through memory AND emotional manipulation. Altering memories and then yanking on certain emotions to pull through, can help him get people to think and even partially act the way he desires. It’s exhausting, and incredibly rare for him to use.

Noah is able to keep his identity hidden by simply altering his appearance to whoever he is fighting. He usually seeks out people when alone, and does his best to not hurt innocents, despite what the public thinks. Everyone who’s fought him/seen him in action describes him differently. Most people aren’t even sure if he even is a “he,” because he makes himself look so drastic sometimes.

He occasionally works with a partner, although they don’t consider themselves to be aligned in general when it comes to crime.

Kaleidoscope is notoriously known for her random crimes and activities. No one can quite figure out her goal or intentions, and so she’s dubbed a vigilante by most.

This of course, being Izzy! When Noah fights with her, he occasionally helps mask her identity from others. She’s a bit reckless, but the two have a history together. A traumatic one at that!

Izzy’s powers are deterioration. She’s able to break/take things apart/crumble things with her mind. Her powers can be as simple or as drastic as she desires.

(She met Noah by saving him from someone attempting to hurt him. By completely destroying their bones from inside their body. Noah was both horrified and grateful.)

Moving on! Alejandro, a “superhero” in our story.

Alejandro doenst have superpowers. At least not in the way our other characters do! Everyone simply assumes he does.

Alejandro is clairvoyant, which is considered a gift, rather than a superpower. His family exploited his talents as a child, so when he was old enough, he fled to be on his own. Nowadays he uses his predictions to help others, being able to foresee certain disasters and small issues. His powers waver depending on their severity, and he has a habit of undoing a certain villains work without even knowing.

He’s dubbed “The Good Samaritan,” when first seen saving people. Over time, the city began to think he had superpowers, and his name changed to “The Physic Samaritan.” Alejandro avoids media and press as much as possible, seeing as it was all he was used to as a child, so no one knows any different. This does not serve him well when real super-powered folk begin to see him as a threat.

Onto our two real superheroes! (so far!!)

Lashawna is the cities main superhero. She’s been protecting citizens for about two years before Noah makes his debut as a villain. She has very standard telekinesis, and is about the most hero looking and sounding hero out there. Her name is “The Golden Hero,” later changed to “The Golden Woman” when she gains a sidekick. Everyone adores her!

Courtney is Lashawna’s sidekick, appearing with her mentor only a few months before Noah shows up. “The Golden Girl,” her powers being one of information absorbing. She’s able to quickly learn anything she needs, simply by skimming words or touching an object… or person.

There’s a bit of a roadrunner scenario for a while between her and Noah, where she’s simply trying to grab him in someway or another, as the action would reveal his real identity to her. Of course, Noah is able to easily evade her, as her powers have little to do with physical superiority. (She’s still incredibly strong and fast. It’s Courtney we’re talking about here.)

Before I talk about our real villain of the story, I’m gonna discuss some plot points!

-Courtney feels incredibly undervalued and overlooked. She thinks if she can manage to reveal the Masked Mentalist’s identity, people would finally start to give her more credit. Lashawna tries to help her calm down, but she’s very fixated on her mission.

-Noah wants control. Deep down he has good intentions, as he’s attempting to dismantle the upcoming “Heroes Program,” starting up in his city, but he loses sight of it for a while. Alejandro becomes a bit of an obsession for him, as he somehow has the entire cities trust while barely being in the public’s eye. It drives him crazy.

-Izzy has so much depth, but acts insane as a defense. She and Noah had very similar upbringings due to their powers, and a fuckton of issues that now stem from it. She hides her pain by acting as though she’s invincible.

-Noah and Izzy have a very deep bond. They truly trust each other more than anyone else, even their civilian friends.

-Team e-scope is very much present! Owen and Eva are humans, and are still best friends with Noah and Izzy. Neither have any clue their two best friends are well known criminals.

Alright actual plot time. And backstory for our super-powered characters!

As usual when it comes to superhuman realities, the powers come from genetic mutations. No one is too sure how it started, but superpowered people have been showing up around the world for the last twenty-ish years.

Children found out to have powers were, of course, taken by the government. At first it was out of fear, but after a few years, the public began retaliating. “Programs,” were then opened, and while it was presented as a choice for parents, it simply was not. If your child had powers and was found out, they would be forced into a program.

Lashawna and Courtney were both placed into a program as young children. Both were released after a number of years to become superheroes. Most children taken are not released.

Both Lashawna and Courtney lack memories from their time in the program. They are conditioned to be perfect superheroes, deemed “safe” for society, due to their powers.

Again, as expected, these “programs” are just ways for scientists to study the mutations in the children. At first there was an attempt to stop it, but nowadays, there’s more of a goal to simply replicate it. Children are treated like animals.

Based on your power, and your behavior, there’s a chance to be released as a hero, such as Lashawna and Courtney, as an example that these programs are a good thing. It’s a way to keep people happy, and keep the more dangerous powers under wraps, at least until they can find a “cure,” or a way to create the gene themselves.

Because each person is different, each mutation acts differently in a person, explaining all the different powers seen. Super powers are still incredibly rare, although they’re widely accepted as a truth nowadays. Two powers acting exactly the same has never been recorded.

Noah and Izzy were never put in a program.

They were smart kids. Noah realized his powers early on in his childhood, and was terrified. Stories of powers had been shown in the news by now, and he wanted nothing to do with it.

His mother discovers it on accident after a year or two of Noah being aware. He panics and attempts to erase her memories of it, failing miserably and only hurting himself in the process.

She promises to keep him safe, just as horrified as he is at the idea of losing her only son. It’s a terrifying childhood for Noah, constantly having to be on the lookout, never being able to openly use his powers, something that so quickly became such a huge part of his identity. He turns to subtly using his powers in public, able to help bring more money and such home for his family. He becomes incredibly talented with his powers as just a teenager.

Izzy never told a soul. She’s had more accidents with her powers than she cares to speak about. She learns of her powers a bit later in childhood, but still before becoming a teenager.

A ten year old accidentally dissolving someone’s skin from their hand when being picked on is a traumatic experience for anyone, but even more so when she kills the other child out of fear. She flees the scene, and loses her shit. She quickly figures out she has a dangerous power, and being just as smart as Noah at such a young age, hides it completely.

She had much less control over her powers for a number of years, being scared of herself.

It isn’t until she sees a man pressing someone clearly struggling to a wall in a dark alley she truly uses her powers for the first time, and makes her first friend. (This friend being Noah, of course.)

Yes very dark backstories for the sillies! They have an insane trauma bond.

With their backstories, you can kinda gather why Noah wants to take down the programs starting up again. They’re much more public this time, and that worries him. He knows nothing good can come from children being forced into such a program, even if he was never in one himself. Izzy is more than willing to help him out for the most part.

The actual plot of the story, of course, is alenoah. This being said, let’s talk about that!

Noah wants Alejandro’s influence on others. Wants the social power the “superhero” holds.

He and Izzy devise a plan to get that influence on their side.

To keep things relatively brief, they corner him, and Noah is able to successfully uses his created hypnosis power on Alejandro, simply getting him to trust Noah, as a civilian.

As soon as the deed is done, he and Izzy pose as his worried friends, claiming he’d fallen and hit his head. When Alejandro questions who they are, Izzy immediately pipes up with “He’s your boyfriend silly!” and Noah. Just. Has to roll with it. He can’t risk changing the narrative so quickly for the boy with the currently muddled memories, and he also can’t berate Izzy right in front of Alejandro. So he agrees.

The two discover after a little bit that he actually is not a superhero, and lacks powers in general. This pisses Noah off greatly, thinking his work was all for nothing. He continues with his plan nonetheless, seeing as no one else knew Alejandro didn’t have powers. That could be an advantage.

Alejandro gradually puts the pieces together over time, never fully recovering his memories, but being able to see through the fog Noah placed over them.

Everything is going pretty well, even with the residual feelings both boy are gaining as they pose as a couple. That is until the real villain of the story shows up.

Duncan! His powers are the ability to create weapons out of thin air, his trademark one being flying knives. The weapons disappear as soon as they hit a target, only being created by his mind, and usually shown as a faint green color. (this is a working idea! still not 100% on it, but i definitely want him to have a weapon related power.)

He was in a program as well, ironically, the same one as Courtney. He was not released, he escaped.

Being dubbed a “dangerous power,” Duncan was set to live the rest of his life out as a lab rat. Of course, being Duncan, he did not like this fate! He’s one of the few children to ever escape, and the only one know to come back as a supervillain.

He’s angry. He’s angry about everything, and with everyone. He’s especially pissed off with Courtney, who he believes simply abandoned him. Courtney doesn’t remember who he is.

No more details for now! (Both because I haven’t planned out enough 100% to post about, and some of it is just for the story!) But I hoped you guys like my silly AU ramblings! I’m having a good time with this idea, so lmk if it’s something you’d like to see more of in the future :)

#total drama #alenoah #tdi fanfic #total drama island #tdi alenoah #tdi noah #tdi alejandro #tdi courtney #tdi duncan #tdi lashawna #superhero au save meeeee #this took forever to write out yall #but i hope you like it #:)

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goodqueenaly · 1 month ago

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What do you think of Corlys Velaryon and Rhaenys Targaryen? I specifically ask about their political attitudes toward Daemon, Rhaenyra, Rhaenyra's children, their own children (Laenor and Laena), etc.

Corlys is a character I like; but I see him acting out of ambition rather than love. But I wonder how far his ambition has gone: did he suspect that Daemon killed Laenor? Did he really like Rhaenyra's children? Did he just support Rhaenyra in power or was he also afraid of her and what she could do to him?

These questions I also extend to Rhaenys. I feel like we got little from her (And she wasn't the only one, as F&B has a lot of issues), so it's hard to say to what extent she supported Rhaenyra because she was also a woman who had her rights taken away, or if it was just out of ambition (or both).

As I know that Fire and Blood has a lot of problems (even more in the Dance), I understand if I can't do a great analysis on these two. But I would love to know what do you think about them and their attitudes!

Sorry for any grammatical errors and thanks in advance for your response!

First off, and the ask somewhat identifies this issue, one of the major problems in relying on Fire and Blood to understand the personal feelings of any of the characters within that book is that the very nature of Fire and Blood severely limits such analysis. Because we are reading about Corlys and Rhaenys (and everyone else in the roughly century and a half of history the book covers) from the ostensibly objective historian perspective of Gyldayn, a figure who lived and wrote more than a century after Corlys and Rhaenys died, we can only experience these characters at arm’s length. We are not in their heads, nor are we in the heads of any individuals directly interacting with these figures; we can only glean elements of their personality via those historical anecdotes Gyldayn chooses to share, quite the difficult prospect. Although GRRM, via Gyldayn, does sometimes invent more personal moments for his characters despite the absence of in-universe sources for such moments or the practical implausibility of Gyldayn knowing about them - think of, for example, Cregan Stark’s conversation with Alysanne Blackwood - many figures are left frustratingly vague in terms of their internal characterization.

Consequently, Corlys and Rhaenys are, along with (albeit to varying extents) every other character in F&B, something of an enigma, at least in terms of personal thoughts and feelings. Just as I once discussed with Daemon Targaryen (in the question of his love for Rhaenyra as well as his feelings toward her “Velaryon” sons), there is very little to extrapolate from the (themselves limited) actions we have taken by Corlys and Rhaenys to determine how they personally felt about many of the people and events around them. Corlys, so far as we know, never reacted to the rumor (I think true rumor) that Daemon had his son Laenor murdered (and indeed, given his open bounty on Qarl Correy, I don’t know that Corlys ever knew or suspected as much); moreover, even if Corlys and/or Rhaenys were part of the “court and commons” outraged by the news of Daemon and Rhaenyra’s hasty marriage, this anger could well have been simply the expression of grieving parents shocked at the indecently quick remarriages (to one another) of their sometime children-in-law, and not necessarily also a reflection of any particular suspicion of Daemon. Likewise, both Corlys and Rhaenys obviously acknowledged Rhaenyra as queen following the death of Viserys I - but whether they did so solely because either or both wanted to see their “Velaryon” grandchildren on the Iron Throne, or also (and not mutually exclusively) because either or both wanted to support the claims of a female ruler in lieu of Rhaenys not becoming queen in her own right, is unanswerable.

On top of this, I think it’s important to note that for Westerosi aristocratic society, love and political ambition aren’t necessarily mutually exclusive. This is a point I made when talking about whether Ned and Catelyn would have allowed their children to marry for love alone, and it bears repeating here; even the parents (like Ned and Catelyn) who most clearly care for and love their children are operating in a socio-political system that mandates marriages be made for the advantage of their dynasties, not simply the dictates of their hearts. Rhaenys and/or Corlys can well have loved their children while also using their marriage arrangements for political advantage - and indeed, may well have seen the latter as an expression of the former, with either or both parents working for the advancement of their children as a way of showing their care for their children. To be clear, I don’t want to say every politically ambitious parent in Westeros is necessarily a loving one - Randyll Tarly had clear ambitions with both of his sons’ would-be or actualized marriage arrangements and is simultaneously a horrible human being, and that goes even more so for Tywin Lannister - only that I don’t think we as readers should automatically equate “ambitious” with “unloving”.

In that context, I think Corlys and Rhaenys are a bit of a mixed bag. The Velaryons certainly seem to have been willing to betroth Laena at a very young age, first to King Viserys and then to the son of the Sealord of Braavos - and in at least the former case, the apparent expectation that Laena would give birth to children sooner rather than later. I’m not saying that I consider Corlys or Rhaenys equivalent to, say, Unwin Peake (and his (unnamed!) daughter) - but just as I criticized that mega-creep Rodrik Arryn for not looking after his own daughter Aemma’s welfare in marrying her off at eleven to Prince Viserys himself, I think there is room for criticism of any Westerosi parent, Corlys and Rhaenys included, who participates in the disturbing pattern of shoving their daughter into marriage and childbirth at an extremely young age. Likewise, that Corlys and Rhaenys wished to have Laenor marry Rhaenyra despite Laenor’s own, almost certainly apparent unwillingness to do so is a reflection of their participation in that same socio-political system of dynastic continuity, and the unfairness inherent to that system; Laenor was no Loras Tyrell-esque third son whose elder brothers could wed and breed (or, indeed, a Daeron I-esque eldest son who could outsource the production of an heir to a younger brother), but the only male heir of a couple whose royal ambitions predated Laenor’s own birth. Still, while I hesitate to give Corlys and Rhaenys real praise for not marrying Laena to the Sealord’s son, given that the match seemed to be as politically hollow as it was personally disastrous, but I would like to imagine that Laena was more pleased to marry Daemon than she would have been that wastrel Sealord’s son (as indeed, her marriage to Daemon does not seem to have been facially unhappy); in that light, perhaps we can give a crumb of credit to the Velaryons for matching Laena with a more personally suitable husband. Too, I do think it’s worth noting a certain sense of fondness Corlys seems to have had, perhaps less to Rhaenyra’s elder sons as individuals as much as toward their identities as specifically Velaryons: when Jacaerys loftily declared that “[o]nly Targaryens ride dragons" (emphasis in original), Corlys supposedly “grumbled at this, insisting that the three boys were Velaryons, yet he smiled as he said it, with pride in his voice”.

Ultimately, and frustratingly, so much of Corlys and Rhaenys as characters is left to the imaginations of readers. Unless (and probably not until) GRRM writes a novella in their POV or interacting directly with them, they remain at arm’s length, sketched rather than fleshed out as personalities.

(Once again, this is not about That Other Show and please do not use this post to talk about That Other Show.)

#asoiaf meta #fire and blood volume 1 #corlys velaryon #rhaenys daughter of aemon

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howtofightwrite · 1 year ago

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Does Ser Arys Oakheart’s performance in The Queenmaker in AFFC (killing a handful of men and jumping clear of his palfrey before being swiftly dispatched by Areo Hotah) suggest a decent amount of martial competence on Arys’ part, in your view?

I’m going to make George R.R. Martin fans angry again and say, no. However, this is because I don’t feel any of Martin’s characters (throughout his work) really demonstrate any degree of martial competence. A lot of Martin’s characters aren’t supposed to possess any martial competence, but even the ones who are meant to don’t have it. Their “martial competence” is roughly the equivalent of action figures being angrily smashed together. For me, his fight scenes/battle scenes are the weakest part of his writing and I tune them out. Martin heavily focuses on “ironic” surprises and subversions of expectations like in the scene with Arys Oakheart, where everything is going well and then the character is just randomly and unceremoniously offed.

Boom. Goodbye.

“Like they would be in real life!”

I’m going to imagine someone yelling that because I’m sure someone, somewhere wants to.

Look, unlike Starke, I read A Feast for Crows and I genuinely have no memory of this character. They have been memory holed. They are gone. (Which is wild because I remember random minor character deaths from a lot of other major and minor fantasy properties that I read as a tween ages ago.)

The thing about reality is that real people are also capable of the following: Strategic and tactical awareness, long term strategic planning, working in unison with their fellow soldiers, and, yes, that includes knights in the Middle Ages. Knights in the Middle Ages might’ve (sometimes) been wealthy bastards, but they had to be functionally aware of violence and its impacts or they weren’t knights for very long.

Martin does not understand how armies and professional combatants function, their purpose, or their place in maintaining order in a feudal society. The irony is that politics are not his forte. His combat sequences read like they were written by someone who spent a great deal of time reading original historical accounts and not enough time thinking from the perspective of the people committing those gruesome atrocities. Make no mistake, medieval warfare was far, far more gruesome than anything you’ll find in Game of Thrones and the most terrifying part is the reasoning behind those atrocities was actually sound. Once you’re past the shock value, GOT is fairly comforting because the majority of the time no one makes sense. There’s a moral lesson hidden in the undercurrent ready to bludgeon the audience when they least expect it and all the violence works from that perspective, and all of it is written very specifically with the audience’s reaction in mind. Martin doesn’t seem to care how it works both on the technical front or in the utilization of violence to deliver narrative catharsis, he cares how the audience will react.

His violence doesn’t feel good, which is his intention, he doesn’t want it to feel good, but it also doesn’t feel bad. The violence just sort of exists.

One of the pieces of tragedy that is fundamentally important is a sense of foreboding. In fiction, death flags aren’t necessarily bad. In a tragedy, they’re necessary. Character death doesn’t need to be surprising to be meaningful. In fact, death is often more meaningful when the audience knows it’s coming. Whether it’s because they want the character to die or because they don’t want them to die. Their death creates narrative catharsis. The catharsis releases the tension, it feels good. Satisfaction through tears. When the audience and the narrative knows death is coming, it creates tension. If you invest early, the tension builds, and builds, and builds until it pops. The trouble is that, one way or another, the author has to invest in the character for that to happen. The surprise can be how the character dies, the manner of their death, and even who kills them, but not the fact they die. Shock value is sudden. The reason to use shock sparingly is that it lacks a lasting payout and eventually the audience acclimates. Too much shock obfuscates the narrative importance of a character’s death and shortens the long term impact of their loss. The impact of the death ends up as sudden as the death itself. Here, then gone, then forgotten.

In a well-structured tragedy, it doesn’t matter whether the audience cares about the character who dies or not. It helps, but the focus of the impact is on how it affects the other characters, how that loss is felt, and the way it’s internalized. An observation that’s always stuck with me is when I was in college studying Shakespeare, and my professor told us that Shakespeare structured his tragedies and his comedies the same way. They’re the same until the fourth act, and it’s the characters’ decisions leading into the final crisis which ultimately decides whether the story will end happily or tragically. All Shakespeare’s characters are important cogs in his play (including the bear.) When one of them goes, the narrative and the characters feel it. If a character is never important to the story, then the impact of their loss can’t be felt.

Martin’s characters don’t fight smart. They don’t fight cleverly. They don’t really fight stupid either. They fight with the combined equivalent of a single brain cell failing to function harmoniously. Probably the standout sequence for me that demonstrates this point is the Battle of the Crab from House of the Dragon. They had two dragons, a beach, an isolated cave system where their enemies were hiding to get away from the fire. They had corpses, and they had tar. And what didn’t they do?

Set shit on fire.

Smoke. Cave. Smoke. Cave. Smoke. Cave. Smoke.

The easiest and most low energy plan in the world that should be obvious to anyone who has ever cooked in an enclosed space. While this is a great way to signal that your characters suck at warfare, the characters involved were supposed to be the ones good at it! People being burned alive as they got smoked out of a cave is more gruesome than what actually happened and would have demonstrated the power of the dragons a lot better. Instead of, you know, the mighty House Targaryen being outwitted by… a cave.

If the dangers of dragons could be mitigated by a cave, people would just live in caves and not castles like they do on Pern.

Thank you for listening to my fanwank.

(No, the presence of saltwater would not have, in fact, saved the pirates. However, the Targaryens could have tarred the driftwood, set it ablaze, and let the tide carry it inside in addition to setting fire at every entrance like real military tacticians. Which shouldn’t be a reach given that half the army was made up of sailors.)

(They could’ve also used the crabbed up bodies for this with the added bonus of it being extremely horrifying, smelly, and gross.)

(We’re not talking about the Crab Army.)

(I mean it!)

-Michi

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#house of the dragon #game of thrones #literary analysis #how to fight write #writing advice #writing reference #writing tips #michi answers

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vigilskeep · 6 months ago

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I know these are very different games, but do you have any advice for dragon age enjoyers (obsessives) starting to play bg3? I bought it for the vibes but am struggling with understanding the lore and the game mechanics/combat. Although the vibes still are pretty good

hmmm. i had the advantage of being secondhand familiar with dnd so the world and combat system was pretty familiar to me...

top advice: explore the whole hotbar (or that hateful wheel consoles have, ig) and make sure u know all the options u have for ur actions and bonus actions. a character’s stats (str, dex, etc) are only valuable on even numbers, respec all ur companions to even numbers as soon as you can. rest often, there is no ticking clock or punishment for doing so, it will restore ur health and spells and especially early on you will miss out on a lot of cutscenes if you don’t. but honestly in general bg3 especially on lower difficulties is a very forgiving game. it’s designed for people who don’t necessarily have it all figured out to be able to beat it

lore wise you mostly have to understand you’re in one of the most Generic Fantasylands of all time. there aren’t really the hard lore rules or the large scale social, political and religious conflicts of something like dragon age, because it’s designed to be a sandbox with all the familiar toys for you to make stories with, rather than to tell a specific story. it just wants you to have an adventure. so i guess instead of trying to figure out the world as a whole, take each area and conflict simply as it’s presented to you? for a choice-based game it’s extremely black and white, in my experience

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desos-records · 2 years ago

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alright let’s talk about Lockwood & Co vs Adults

(mostly about the show, I started the books before the show came out and I’m not done, be nice)

Lockwood tries so very hard to act older than he is and he essentially Had To after losing his family. We aren’t told the specifics, but he doesn’t seem to have any adults in his life. Or many people in it period. George has only known him for a year, Flo used to live with him but hasn’t for at least a year if not more, and Kipps is. well. Kipps.

But other than that he seems to have been alone: he’s the one who takes care of the business and the finances, finding new clients and recruiting new agents (he has a mortgage and insurance and he can’t even drive yet). It fits with the overarching theme of the older generation not just failing the newer one, but exploiting it too. Lockwood was abandoned by the generation that was supposed to take care of him (on purpose or not)--just like all the kids of his generation, George and Lucy included.

It’s a little simpler when it comes to George and Lucy. They both left their families by choice; they chose to be the mature ones, to do what they had to so they could feel safe and at home. George left parents who loved him, but didn’t understand him. Lucy left a physically abusive mother who exploited her for money. They’re both mature in very concrete, measurable ways that are natural extensions of their characters. George cleans and cooks and handles research. Lucy is emotionally mature, holding both boys (and people in general) accountable for their actions and making her able to pick out incredible nuances in emotion (of both the living and the dead).

But Lockwood’s maturity feels a little more like play-acting than the others. Partly, I think, because he didn’t get a choice. He’s been functionally an independent adult for god knows how long. He dresses in suits and is entirely too formal (in the books it takes forever for him to stop calling Lucy ‘Miss Carlyle’). But you can tell that it is definitely an act. His tie and trousers are too short, his coat is too big, and, god bless him, he wears the most beat up pair of sneakers I’ve ever seen.

His interactions with actual adults become a flashpoint. It’s most obvious in his interactions with adult men (partly just because most of the adults in the show are men), who he is trying so hard to look and act like. But in every case, they call him out on it and he’s reminded how young he is and almost always in a way that hurts.

The most obvious are Fairfax, Winkman, and what’s-his-face with the gold sword and guyliner, who are trying to kill him. In all cases, Lockwood can’t physically overpower them (Fairfax and Guyliner have guns, Winkman has an electric chair) and his words don’t mean anything to them. And Guyliner is even more dangerous because he knows his parents, knows something about the story behind Lockwood’s armor.

But what’s more interesting are the adults who aren’t trying to kill him.

Barnes picks apart the arguments Lockwood throws up in defense of himself and his agency, not with posturing, but with genuine (although rather harsh) concerns for their safety. For Lockwood, Barnes is a Captain Hook figure, but Barnes acts more like a disgruntled school principal than anything else. He’s working to protect a whole city full of kids that are, by necessity, thrown into harm’s way. And you can see it when Lockwood says that Barnes doesn’t like them much and it throws him off-guard.

The DEPRAC agent at the auction tells them to leave not just because he thinks they can’t handle it, but because they shouldn’t have to

Jesus, you’re children

Yes, he’s aggressive and antagonistic about it, which only makes Lockwood bristle more. Lockwood steps towards him trying to act with authority, even threatening, but all the agent does to break his armor is grab him hard by the shoulder and push him back. But despite that, he is trying to protect them. And he dies to protect them. It is the only instance of someone truly seeing them for what they are: kids. Not agents or weapons or meal tickets.

But it’s jarring. Lockwood can’t process any of that and that’s not his fault. In the world we’ve seen so far, Barnes and the DEPRAC agent are an anomaly. Most other adults don’t care whether they live or die (so long as they’re useful). Lockwood has every reason to believe that every adult is an obstacle at best and a threat at worst.

And it’s painful. All of it. And a little too close to home, this story of children only valued when they’re useful.

#lockwood and co #lockwood & co #anthony lockwood #lucy carlyle #george karim #lockwood netflix

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itztheebrybry · 2 months ago

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Rowdyruff Boys On The Spectrum? [THEORY/HEADCANON]

his is such a stupid theory/headcanon but I just get the vibe for numerous reasons. Yes I know they’re four year olds and four year olds can do random things +most disorders like autism aren’t figured out until the kid is older. But screw it im projecting a tad being autistic myself so I’m putting it out there.

We all know the RRB definitely have PTSD so I’m not going to get into that one. I’m more gonna focus on autism and adhd.

Off the bat a big thing I can mention is stimming. The boys stim quite a bit. Mainly Butch and Boomer. And it’s usually triggered when they’re excited and can’t stay still or control said excitement. Biggest examples being The Boys Are Back In Town. Lots of stimming there.

Ways of speech and miswording. - People can stretch this to the boys being super young and that’s valid. It’s common in young kids. Show examples would be Bubble Boy, when Brick writes his graffiti. “BRIK WUZ HER”. But the main spots I’ve seen this happen is the comics. For example, CN Action Pack #6, Butch mixing up “invisible” with “invincible.” Certain ways they talk as well can be seen on the spectrum. Or at least that’s how I see it. Like when Brick mentions a bus to help their heist in CN Action Pack #4. Instead of Butch adding to the convo. he speaks on how much he likes buses and why. Or Brick stating he likes eggs randomly in CN Action Pack #6. Again kid stuff too, so see it how you like.

MANY examples here.

Distractions - Kid thing again but could be spectrum as well. The boys have sort attention spans and get bored super easily. An example here from CN Action Pack #1. Which also makes me think they would get distracted by their fixations a crazy amount.

Fixations - Ok this is cheating cuz I spotted this in Multiversus but since it’s Ruff media I’m adding it. The boys definitely fixate to specific things. Like Butch with his constant ticks and urge to fight, while Brick fixates on The Joker. Wanna see what I mean? Watch these two videos.

Brick - https://youtu.be/paA3XZ0-Feg?si=PTaho72oYo18ZTVS

Butch - https://youtu.be/s92Ksrdk5aw?si=JvOlCBrV5yUIgf

Sleep Issues - Also Multiversus but it’s something I found interesting. The boys HATE getting up early and constantly have the urge to sleep. Perhaps from sleep issues or staying up late being mischievous. This one hit personal for me. Wanna see for yourself? Check this video out.

youtube

Triggers - Comic based this time, and this can line up to PTSD a bit more. But autistic people including myself can and do have triggers so I’m adding this too. The boys have a huge trigger to the idea of being kissed. As shown in CN Action Pack #6, when the girls defeat them with cooties. The boys don’t even try to fight, and fly away in tears. I count this up to PTSD, but I can definitely see the boys getting overstimulated in their own ways.

Repetitive behaviors - I feel this one speaks for itself. If you watched any RRB episodes you’ll see what I mean.

Honestly I’m out of topics so imma end this here. If you disagree that’s cool, I just like exploring characters' heads.

#I love them so much #they’re sadly traumatized fr #autism spectrum disorder #actually autistic #autistic things #neurodivergent #adhd problems #actually adhd #rowdyruff brick #rowdyruff boomer #rowdyruff butch #rowdyruff boys #these boys need a grilled cheese #headcanon #reblog if you agree #Youtube

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ask-one-orion-pax · 3 months ago

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Quick Guide to Acceptable Asks!

Note: This blog is only in affiliation with @ask-one-elita & @ask-one-d16. All other TF One ask blogs are not run by this Mod & will not be acknowledged in an RP manner as according to the RP rules below.

Definite YES:

Questions about my friends or me

Questions about Cybertron

Challenges for fun

Concerns about the world (yours or mine!)

Requests for emotional support (D insists I’m good at it)

Cool bugs

MAYBE:

Comments

Roasts

Political statements about Cybertron (I’m not really familiar with Earth politics)

Spicy questions (depending on my preferences)

Definite NO:

Insults directed at my friends (I will bully you)

Asks for advertisement

Vaguely worded asks that aren’t clear or specific in their meaning (if I can’t figure it out I will probably just delete it, sorry)

Asks directed at Moderator (I am the Moderator heheheh)

Special Tags

#username: search a username tag on my blog to see only my interactions with that user!

#advice: I try to be helpful sometimes

#Orion’s opinions: of which I have many!

#cool stuff: look at all the cool stuff I found! (reblogs)

[OOC] RP RULES

(NEW) You may initiate a romance/erotic RP with this blog via DMs. These RPs are exclusive to the DMs and will not compete with other RPs outside of DMs, nor will it compete with this blog’s main story. If you send an ask using the character in your DM RP with this blog, Orion Pax will respond to the ask in character and in accordance with your DM RP.

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Any attempts to RP with this blog as an official character will be ignored and/or deleted.

This blog takes place PRE-IACON 5,000! Any attempts to RP with this blog from a time in the future (canon or non-canon) will be ignored and/or deleted.

Be respectful of other people’s RP interactions and ask them privately before attempting to interact with them in regards to this blog. Be okay with being told no.

NEVER “no nothing” an RP interaction (making something “unstoppable”) or write this blog’s response within your interaction to force an exchange you desire. These actions are unfair and disrespectful to the recipient. Doing so will grant you a warning. You will only be warned ONCE. Repeat offenders will be BANNED from RP interactions with this blog.

#orion pax #tf one orion pax #transformers #maccadam #tf one #transformers one #ask orion pax #ask blog #ask rules

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dinitride-art · 2 years ago

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Mike Wheeler in Stranger Things: Identity

Okay, so I know that generally- and especially after season four- what seems to be the most common interpretation of Mike as a queer character, is that he’s repressing his sexuality throughout the entire series. I would like to counter that argument with one that suggests Mike is aware of his feelings for Will on a conscious level, and while he has repressed his identity prior to season four, he is now past the point of being able to repress his identity and his feelings for Will. To fully analyze Mike’s awareness of his identity, I will be exploring his repression and denial as a result of societal pressures as seen through the journey from season one through three, and the acceptance and attempted expression of his identity in season four.

Mike Wheeler in Season One of Stranger Things (Society)

While Will is missing, and while the Party is trying to figure out what to do with El, Mike is continually targeted by Troy. More specifically, Troy calls Will gay to torment Mike. Lucas and Dustin aren’t targeted in the same way nor do they have the same reactions as Mike. Lucas and Dustin aren’t the ones to push Troy when he’s making fun of Will in the gym, Mike is. We also see that Mike is somewhat shameful about what Troy has been doing. Troy calls Will slurs and when Mike tries to walk away, as the one being targeted by Troy, he’s tripped and slams his chin into a rock on the ground. He lies to El at first about the scrape on his chin because he doesn’t want her to know what happened. He doesn’t want her to know about what Troy is saying to him. Mike is bullied in season one for Will being perceived as queer. This implies that Mike is also perceived as queer by Troy but unlike Will, is bullied indirectly.

Bullying isn't the only aspect of season one that implies that Mike is experiencing societal pressure to conform; Both Dustin and Lucas suggest that Mike likes El. Mike denies this at first. What we see as an audience suggests that Mike’s feelings about El are different from Lucas and Dustin’s but not in the way that the characters are interpreting them. In episode two when El starts to change in front of the boys- because she doesn’t know any reason not to- Lucas and Dustin have very charged reactions. They are shocked and express that this is not a normal thing to do. Their reactions indicate that Lucas and Dustin have knowledge of why this situation isn’t normal, and that they both abide by and fit into that aspect of society. Mike’s reaction is very different. He’s annoyed by Lucas and Dustin’s reactions and quickly finds a solution to the problem. Mike knows why this situation is unacceptable, but because it doesn’t apply to him he is able to seem far more mature about handling it than his friends are. Mike knows how he is supposed to fit into society but his actions set him apart from those who actually do.

The start of Mike and El’s romantic relationship comes after Lucas and Dustin suggest it to Mike. They are telling Mike what is normal and now he is able to match his actions to their perceptions. This idea of what’s normal, liking El, is furthered by Nancy asking Mike if he likes El towards the end of the season when they’ve all met up at the school. Mike asks El if she wants to go to the Snow Ball with him, and then he kisses her. These aren’t unique actions. They abide perfectly by society's acceptable standards of romantic relationships, and what Mike is aware is acceptable, but there is little substance behind them. This is however, a shift from the beginning of the season where Mike’s knowledge of society contrasted his actions within it. After being told that being queer and not abiding by society will get you hurt or killed, and being pressured by close friends and family into liking El, Mike has started to actively repress his identity. His knowledge of what is socially acceptable is now driving his actions.

In season one Mike Wheeler is told that it is dangerous to reject society, and he is told that by people who hurt him for it and people he is close to. At twelve, Mike isn’t aware of his identity but he is made aware of the fact that it is unacceptable to be queer, or to make any action that suggests queerness in any way. Mike kisses El not only because it is what he has been told he is supposed to do, but because he has also been told that being perceived as anything else is dangerous. Mike’s journey with forced conformity and his identity starts in season one because that is the season where he is threatened for any action that society perceives as queer and where he learns to match his actions to what society deems acceptable.

Mike Wheeler in Season Two of Stranger Things (Repression)

Max Mayfield, Trauma and Identity, and Mike’s Response in Relation to Both (Season Two)

As Mike has begun to repress his identity, his anger towards Max is a direct result of his own internal conflict. Since Mike experienced many traumatic events in season one, his internal conflict cannot be wholly attributed to the repression of his identity. Mike’s denial of El’s death and his guilt surrounding it, Will’s disappearance, being chased by government agents: all of these things have an impact on Mike and his actions as a character. He is both traumatized by those events, and his experience with Troy and the resulting repression of his identity. When considering his reaction to Max it’s important to view the entirety of Mike’s experiences as a character to better understand what his actions mean and where they’re coming from. Mike’s decisions are impacted by both his identity and his experiences because of it and outside of it. I would first like to consider his reaction to Max through the lens of his experiences in season one, outside of his identity, to create a better understanding of how that trauma impacts his character differently than the repression of his identity.

In season one, Mike and Joyce Byers had similar reactions and experiences as a result of Will going missing. They were both doubted and experienced pushback upon telling others that they believed Will was still alive. Will’s disappearance affected them differently than others that knew Will. Mike’s response to Will going missing is emphasized when Dustin, Lucas and him are questioned by Hopper at school, and when they are at the hospital. In both those situations Mike has a different action than Dustin and Lucas. While Dustin and Lucas were arguing, Mike was sitting silently on the couch. At the hospital we see the same situation where Lucas and Dustin have fallen asleep contrasting Mike who is still awake and waiting. Mike having a different response than his friends to Will’s disappearance is indicative of both a different relationship between Mike and Will, and different future reactions from Lucas and Dustin as a result of differing trauma. El’s introduction to the party in season one was met with pushback from Lucas and Dustin, contrasting Mike’s immediate acceptance of her. When Dustin, Lucas and Mike saw her die in front of them, this would have a different effect on Mike because like Mike’s relationship with Will, his relationship with El is emphasized to be different from Lucas and Dustin’s relationship with her. Mike does not have the same experiences as Lucas and Dustin, causing his actions and reactions and impact of trauma on them to differ from theirs.

Lucas and Dustin have immediate positive reactions to Max’s introduction juxtaposing Mike and Will who are not interested in Max. Will, unlike Mike, does eventually accept Max into the Party. Considering that Mike and Will’s initial reactions to Max were the same, one can infer that there is a commonality in their characters, mainly their sexual identities, that sets them apart from Lucas and Dustin. However, Mike’s actions towards and in response to Max change and Will’s stay the same, one can also infer that Mike’s adverse feelings towards Max are a result of something other than his internal conflict in repressing his identity.

Max Mayfield’s introduction is both as a new character and as a love interest. Mike and Will’s initial reactions are different from Lucas and Dustin’s because of their lack of romantic interest in Max. Will eventually accepts Max into the Party because unlike Mike, his pushback to Max is almost entirely because of his identity. Mike does not accept Max as a friend because of his experiences in season one that differ from Lucas, Dustin and Will’s. Will disappearing and continuing to have problems, and El dying have caused Mike to be adverse to trusting new people. Part of Mike’s issues with Max are because of his trauma surrounding losing people he cares about. That isn’t to say that his struggles with his identity and subsequent repression do not also affect his feelings and actions towards Max. Mike’s adverse feelings towards Max are a result of trauma and his identity.

As Mike has begun to repress his identity due to his experiences in season one, his negative response to Max makes sense not only as a result of losing Will and El, but as a response to undeniable proof of being different from Dustin and Lucas. Mike doesn’t like Max like they do, and while Will doesn’t either, Mike's focus is primarily on conforming to society himself. Dustin and Lucas like Max immediately and their reactions to Max contrast both Mike’s reactions to Max, and his feelings towards El. Mike doesn’t like Max, romantically or otherwise, because her presence is a constant attack on his repression. He’s different from Lucas and Dustin. He doesn’t like the new girl at school, and that’s a problem because not liking Max like Lucas and Dustin is too close to what he’s repressing; he doesn’t like girls at all.

Will Byers, High Stress Situations and Denial (Season Two)

In high stress situations Mike’s feelings take precedence over his repression. Will’s possession is a high stress situation that causes Mike’s actions to reflect his feelings rather than what he knows to be socially acceptable. He holds Will’s hand when Will’s scared, and sleeps at his bedside in the lab. When Mike is not given time to make an informed decision about his actions, they tend to be actions that are not socially acceptable. The contrast between how Mike acts with Will at the Byers house and in the lab, and at the SnowBall, shows us that Mike’s actions change when they are not forced to be instinctual. Mike doesn’t have time to think about placing his hand over Will’s, or reaching out to him when he’s in danger because the situation does not give him time to consider the societal implications and or pushback to those actions. However, at the SnowBall, Mike does have time to implement societal implications into his reasoning, which is why he encourages Will to dance with a girl, and why he dances with El when she shows up. Season one and season two end with Mike in very similar places in terms of the repression of his identity: Mike, El and the SnowBall, and Mike kissing El. Mike and El’s relationship and Mike’s response to El has remained the same, but there have been developments in Mike’s response to Will.

If Lucas and Dustin liking Max is a threat to Mike’s repression of his identity, then Will dancing with a girl has a similar effect. Mike and Dustin stare at Will dancing with a girl and Max dancing with Lucas, respectively. Unlike when Max was introduced, Mike doesn’t push back against the new girl, he encourages Will to dance with her because this is not the same as Lucas and Dustin liking Max. Will not dancing with a girl would be more of a problem because of Mike’s feelings for Will. As he is repressing those feelings, he needs to push Will away from him. Until the Snow Ball, Mike has not made any decisions that distanced him from Will because Mike did not have any reason to. Prior to the end of season two, Mike was not aware that his actions towards Will were socially unacceptable and therefore a threat to the repression of his identity. At the end of season one, Mike had begun to repress his identity but was still largely unaware of it. What has changed at the end of season two is Mike’s awareness of what it is that he’s repressing and his subsequent denial of it. He starts to push Will away, and his feelings for him, and pushes himself towards El because of his knowledge that he’s supposed to like her, and what is socially acceptable.

Mike Wheeler in Season Three of Stranger Things (Denial)

Now that Mike has gained enough awareness of his own repression of his identity, he has shifted from repression to denial. In season three, Mike actively seeks out help for how he is supposed to act in society and continues to push away anything that suggests he doesn’t conform to society. Despite his attempts to conform Mike is confronted with his and El’s relationship and how it contrasts Lucas and Max's relationship, and his relationship and feelings for Will.

Denial and Conscious Defense (Season Three)

Mike and El’s relationship isn’t like Max and Lucas’s. They don’t go to the movies together, or hang out with their friends, or maintain a connection outside of their romantic relationship. Even Suzie and Dustin, as we later learn, share interests and memories, further showing that there is something off about Mike and El’s relationship. Hopper complains about Mike and El’s relationship to Joyce and tells her that he thinks something is wrong with it. What is shown on this level doesn’t affect Mike’s character, or force him to confront his identity. He doesn’t see the contrast between his and El’s relationship and the others like we do. It is however, important to acknowledge the emphasis on the contrast to the viewer alongside Mike’s denial of his sexuality. As Mike’s identity is becoming a conscious problem for him, it is also becoming a conscious possibility to the audience perceiving his character.

Mike and Will, and Max and Lucas meet up to see a movie at the mall. Mike’s late after hanging out with El, and Lucas makes fun of him. He mocks Mike, saying, “Oh, El. I wish we could make out forever and never hang out with any of our friends.” Lucas’s words imply that Mike’s relationship with El and the actions he makes aren’t normal. By making fun of it he’s pointing out elements within it that are off. Lucas continues to tease Mike until Mike gets defensive, saying, “Yeah, it’s so funny that I want to spend romantic time with my girlfriend.” Mike is trying to reaffirm that his and El’s relationship is normal. He’s denying Lucas’s claims that it’s something wrong and something that can be made fun of, to which Lucas responds, “I’m spending romantic time with my girlfriend.” The difference that Lucas is highlighting between his and Mike’s romantic relationships is Mike’s denial that there is something weird about it. It’s not normal to never hang out with the Party, considering that they’re all friends, and Mike’s excuse of “spending romantic time with [his] girlfriend” is immediately refuted.

Mike is very quick to deny Lucas’s teasing. As Mike isn’t able to completely repress his identity anymore, he becomes more defensive to anything that implies he doesn’t fit into society. Denial is a conscious act of defense for Mike, both internal and external, which is why he becomes defensive so quickly in response to Lucas’s teasing.

Will Byers, Identity and Denial, and Confrontation (Season Three)

When El breaks up with him, Mike goes to Lucas for help. Their relationship doesn’t come naturally to him, but as he is in denial of his identity, he needs their relationship to work. In doing this, he pushes Will away, and their interests and connection. While Mike is unable to figure out how to apologize to El on his own, he doesn’t hesitate to run after Will. Will is more important to Mike than the denial of his identity. The first real fight between Mike and Will happens because of Mike’s denial. It’s a similar situation, Mike getting defensive when it’s implied that he doesn’t fit perfectly into society, like him getting defensive at Lucas’s teasing at the mall. However, this situation is still very different from what happened at the mall because Will isn’t Lucas. His existence in Mike’s life is a blatant counter to Mike’s denial of his identity. Mike’s denial doesn’t present simply as defense with Will, it presents as Mike pushing Will away and both of them getting frustrated and yelling at each other as a consequence when things get pushed too far.

Mike and Will’s fight in season three is a result of their separate conflicts surrounding their identities. It’s set off by Lucas and Mike making fun of Will for still wanting to play D&D, but quickly boils down to the main issue: Mike and Will’s relationship, and Mike’s denial of it resulting in him pushing Will away. In the basement, when Will’s had enough, he says he’s going home and Mike goes after him, Lucas is left behind. Their conversation shifts from Mike saying, “It’s a cool campaign. It’s really cool. We’re just not in the mood right now,” rather quickly to Will saying, “You’re destroying everything- and for what? So you can swap spit with some stupid girl?” They start off talking about the whole Party, Lucas, Mike, Will and Dustin, but the Party isn’t why Mike and Will are fighting. Will is the one to shift the conversation away from the Party and onto Mike.

Immediately after Will narrows in on Mike, Mike gets defensive and says, “El’s not stupid. It’s not my fault you don’t like girls.” Will is calling Mike and El’s relationship into question, he’s forcing Mike into a conversation where he will be unable to deny his identity to himself any longer, so he throws it right back at Will. Mike’s denial of his identity is tied to his relationship with El, to getting older and fitting into society. Will’s denial of his identity is tied to his relationship with the party, to playing games in Mike’s basement and not having to think about falling in love or what is expected of them in the future. Will is devaluing Mike’s relationship, his attempt to fit into society, and Mike responds in turn.

“I’m not trying to be a jerk, okay? But we’re not kids anymore. I mean, what did you think, really? That we were never gonna get girlfriends? That we were just gonna sit in my basement all day and play games for the rest of our lives?”

In the same way that Will brought up how Mike’s focus on his and El’s relationship is negatively affecting all of their friends, and pointing out how Mike’s denial is “destroying [their] party”, Mike latches onto Will’s denial. He is telling Will that what he’s trying to do is unrealistic and unattainable, despite the fact that Mike having genuine feelings for El is also unattainable. He is not specifically talking about Will being queer, nor is Will talking about Mike being queer, they are talking about themselves and projecting their frustration onto each other.

After Mike shifts the focus of the conversation onto Will, there is another major shift, once again because of Will, he responds to Mike by saying, “Yeah. I guess I did. I really did,” and then he rides into the rain on his bike. The conversation has shifted from Mike and Will as each other’s focus, to something deeper; their relationship and what Will expected for him and Mike. Will took Mike’s words as Mike talking about their relationship rather than Mike returning Will’s words about his denial. Will isn’t denying anything. He’s telling Mike the truth and the truth has different implications than Mike’s words. Mike is conscious of this shift, his face falls, and he yells after Will as he leaves. The fight in season three between Mike and Will has two major shifts, both initiated by Will: the first being the shift from the conversations focus on the party to Mike and Will as individuals, and the second being the shift from Mike and Will to Mike and Will’s relationship and its implications.

When Mike is in a situation of high stress, like Will being possessed or fighting with Will about their relationship, he isn’t able to consider the societal implications of his actions. He relies on what’s natural to him, and after fighting with Will, it’s running after him. Mike doesn’t have time to deny his feelings for Will, he’s more focused on apologizing. We see how Mike’s denial crumbles away, despite Lucas beside him as he goes after Will to make things right. Mike doesn’t hesitate. His and Will’s relationship comes naturally to him. Unlike with El, who Mike needs to ask others for help with, Mike knows exactly what he needs to do with Will, which is another hit to his denial of his identity. The way Mike handles his fight with Will is very different from how he handles his and El’s break up. The proximity of these two events forces Mike to compare them, and starts to crack the defenses of his internal denial of his identity.

Mike and El’s Relationship (Season Three)

At the end of season three, it continues the trend of reaffirming Mike and El’s relationship, but unlike in season one and two, it’s not initiated by Mike. In season one, Mike kissed El because he was repressing his identity. In season two, Mike kissed El because he was in denial of his identity. In season three, Mike doesn’t kiss El because he has been forced to accept his identity. When she kisses him, he doesn’t reciprocate, and appears confused afterwards. Despite his acceptance, Mike’s journey with his identity isn’t over, because now he has a new problem; El kissed him. They’re still in a relationship, and he has feelings for Will. Mike is given no time to attempt to fix this as Will and El move away from Hawkins at the end of the season.

Mike Wheeler in Season Four of Stranger Things (Acceptance + Fear)

Acceptance, Awareness and Concealment (Season Four)

We learn early on in season four that Mike’s started to embrace a different side of himself with his appearance. His hair is longer, he wears dark clothes: he’s not trying to fit into what is socially acceptable anymore. Mike has once again started playing D&D. That was what started off Mike and Will’s fight in season three, and at the end of season three was what they talked about before Will left Hawkins. D&D doesn’t represent Will trying to hold onto their childhood. It represents living outside of what is acceptable. To Mike and Will it means even more because it’s a piece of the foundation of their relationship. Mike is now fully aware of his identity and has accepted it. Acceptance means that he has become unable to deny his queerness, but it does not mean that he experiences any less internal conflict over his queerness. In season four Mike is faced with many situations that escalate because of his own fears about his identity and the reality that he finds himself in. Mike goes to California and has to confront both Will and El, his friend who he has feelings for and his girlfriend who he’s still in a relationship with despite his knowledge of his identity and his feelings.

Now that Mike is aware of his identity and has accepted it, he has become far worse at being able to hide it. Mike arrives in Lenora wearing bright colours and clothes that are nothing like what he was wearing to school the day before. He brings El flowers, and while he doesn’t initiate their kiss, he does reciprocate. Until Mike sees Will, he is doing an adequate job of hiding his identity from everyone. His clothes make him stand out and are clearly not normal for him, but what really breaks his facade is when he doesn’t hug Will. Not hugging Will is far more incriminating for Mike than greeting him normally. Mike has a strong start at the airport but it becomes clear rather quickly that when Mike is faced with Will, his defenses start to fall apart. Mike is overthinking his actions around Will. He is aware of his feelings for Will and overcomplicates everything because of it. At the airport, Mike is unable to hug Will, to greet him like a normal friend, and fails in starting a normal conversation. If Argyle didn’t bring attention to Mike’s off brand shirt and his false expression of his identity, then he might have still had a chance to appear normal, in both the audience and other character’s eyes but with that last nail in the coffin, Mike is unable to appear normal in the audience’s or the character’s perceptions. Mike’s fears and defensive stance have shifted away from denial of his identity, and now to the possibility of others figuring it out.

Mike doesn’t talk to Will until he is forced into a stressful situation where he is, as is usual of his character, unable to match his actions to society's standards. Initially, Mike doesn’t notice the situation with El as he is focused on hiding his identity from Will and El. Mike is alone for the first time in six months with the two people who his newly accepted identity are directly affected by. Most of Mike’s actions at Rink O’ Mania are based in his fear of Will and El finding out about him. However, his actions are not like how they were in season three. Mike’s denial of his identity presented outwardly as anger and defensiveness, his acceptance presents as avoidance and deflection. Mike knows who he is. He needs to turn the conversation away from himself to stop anyone from looking any closer at him and seeing who he is for themselves.

Will and the Closet (Season Four)

Mike and Will’s fight at Rink O’ Mania isn’t due to Mike and Will’s denial of their identities. There is a new point of contention in their relationship: the closet. Both Mike and Will are fully aware of their identities and their feelings for one another, but are unaware of the other’s feelings. Once again, they are taking out their individual struggles with their identities out on each other. This is a result of Mike and Will’s feelings for each other feeding the escalation of their frustration. It’s the same thing that happened with Mike and Will’s fight in season three, but instead of defense and anger driving the conversation, it’s deflection.

During this fight, Mike yells at Will, “You were! You were rolling your eyes, you were… you were moping! You were barely talking. You basically sabotaged the whole day.” Mike is turning the conversation away from his actions and onto Will. He’s trying to keep Will away from the truth, but it doesn’t work because Will is also trying to keep Mike from figuring out the truth. Will uses El to defect from Mike’s sudden turn on him, telling Mike, “Well, she was lying to you Mike! Straight to your face ever since you got here…” This part of Will’s response is in line with his and Will’s mutual deflection, but just like in the rain fight, Will is the one to shift the conversation onto his and Mike’s relationship.

Will asks, “What about us?” when Mike starts to walk away. Will is not in the same position as Mike. He doesn’t have a girlfriend and while there are still consequences to his words, they aren’t as damning as they’d be if they came from Mike. In season one it was established that Will would cast fireball rather than protection; he’s more inclined to put himself in danger. Mike and Will’s characterizations are opposites when it comes to handling danger. Where Will is more likely to take the risk, Mike plays it safe. This is often seen as Mike being overprotective of people like Will and El, rather than Mike trying to find the safest way to proceed. This aspect of their characters is seen on a larger level, like Will telling them to close the gate when he was possessed, and telling Joyce to run through the lights in season one, or in Mike’s case it’s seen through his overprotectiveness and ability to come up with the safest plans like sedating Will in season two rather than trying to hold him back. Will throws himself into the line of fire while Mike works to minimize damage. This is why Will is always the one to bring up the importance of their relationship. It’s simply an aspect of his character, just like Mike’s complete avoidance of the topic is Mike’s way of trying to find the safest way out of the situation. However, when Mike is confronted by Will in this manner, he’s too shocked to say anything substantial in response until much later.

Will’s insistence on bringing up his and Mike’s relationship puts pressure on Mike. This pressure reaches a high when Will asks Mike one last time, “And us?” Will keeps pushing for Mike to give him an answer, an answer that Mike is trying to avoid. Since Will is the one asking him this and the added stress of what happened with El, Mike isn’t able to abide by his knowledge of what is socially acceptable. Mike responds to Will asking him about their relationship by trying to deflect, but again like his and Will’s reunion at the airport, he overcompensates. Mike says, “We’re friends. We are friends.” This is unnecessary and Mike soon finds out about his mistake when Will says, “Well, we used to be best friends!” This clarifies that Will was talking about their friendship, while Mike interpreted Will’s words as comparing their relationship to his and El’s romantic relationship.

The stress of not being able to find El and fighting with Will forced Mike to make split second decisions. Will cornered him and Mike started to push him away. He got scared. Mike isn’t acting out of frustration like he did in season three. Mike’s denial of his identity is very different from his acceptance and fear of others figuring him out. Another difference between the fight in season three and the fight at Rink O’ Mania is that Mike doesn’t push Will into leaving. Mike’s the one that walks away from the conversation. He ends it by saying, “Let’s just find her, okay?” instead of escalating it further. Mike’s understanding of himself has changed the way he responds to feeling unsafe and to the possibility of a conversation heading towards a discussion of his identity.

El and Confrontation (Season Four)

After Will and Mike’s fight, we then see the state of Mike's relationship with El. She confronts him about not being able to tell her he loves her, or sign his letters Love, Mike. Since Mike accepted his identity he has been trying to distance himself from El. Mike also doesn’t like lying. In the first season he was adamant that everyone follow the Party’s rule that “friends don’t lie.” Mike knows that he doesn’t love her romantically and he doesn’t actively lie to her in the letters. However, his actions are still led by fear and he has been avoiding the topic of his identity rather than outright lying. Mike does care about El, he shows this when he goes to her the day after Rink O’ Mania to try and talk about everything. Despite the fact that he’s just found out that El has been lying to him about how she’s actually been doing in Lenora, Mike is attempting to start a conversation about it rather than a fight. Mike attempts to connect with El by saying, “I’ve been bullied my whole life. I know what it's like.” Even when she responds negatively, telling him, “No. You don’t,” Mike still manages to remain mostly calm.

This calmness persists until El turns the conversation a little too close to Mike’s actions, to his identity. When Mike asks her to tell him what he isn’t getting, she says, “I am different. I do not belong.” She is saying that Mike can’t understand what she’s going through because he isn’t different. This causes Mike’s demeanor to shift from calm to deflective. Mike is different, so El saying that he isn’t, is untrue but Mike can’t tell her that. This situation leaves him unable to talk to El about what happened without telling her the truth. He ends up overcompensating because El has pushed him into a corner. Mike tells her that, “[he cares for her so much].” He isn’t lying, but he’s still in a position where he has to actively avoid the truth. El then pushes him further by bringing up his letters and saying, “You can’t even write it, Mike” and “From, Mike. From, Mike. From, Mike,” citing evidence from all of his letters. She pushes Mike far enough that he starts trying to invalidate and deflect every part of their conversation in order to conceal the truth.

“Eleven, you’re being ridiculous- wh- like- what is this? You- you know what I think of you. You’re the most incredible person in the world. And, you can’t let these mouth breathers ruin you- ruin us. I mean, they’re nobodies. They’re nobodies. And you’re a superhero.”

Most characters don’t call El, Eleven. By calling her this, Mike is creating distance between them. This is also a sign that he’s stressed enough to completely forgo putting any thought into his words. His priority is changing the trajectory of the conversation and deflecting away from El’s confrontation about his shortcomings in their relationship. Unlike El, Mike doesn’t present any evidence to back up his claims. His words are not meant to reassure El or comfort her. Mike’s initial priority was comfort and understanding, but as soon as El brought up his actions, Mike’s priority shifted towards concealing his identity and the truth that comes with it.

Actions and Awareness (Season Four)

Mike and El’s conversation fell apart when El brought up being different from other people because, like Will, she backed Mike into a corner and started to push towards the truth. Mike ends up deflecting and pushing them both away. In season three, Mike lied to El. Hopper confronted Mike about him and El and allowed Hopper to put distance between them. Mike made no move to go after El by himself. This changes in season four. After their fight, El is arrested and Mike runs after her. Acceptance means that Mike is aware of the reasons behind his actions. He is now in a position where he is able to think about finding a solution to his relationship with El and his feelings for Will. However, concealment and fear still motivate a lot of what he says and does in season four. Mike queerness is both why he needs to fix things, but also why he hasn’t figured out how to. There is no answer to his and El’s relationship that doesn't involve telling her about his identity.

In the seasons prior to season four, Mike was attempting to fit into a society he still felt he belonged in. Now Mike knows he’s different but high stress situations still affect his decision making. Fighting with Will and El forces Mike’s actions to reflect truths that he is usually better at concealing. It’s still the same situation that caused Mike to grab Will’s hands in season two, and run after him after their fight in season three. The difference between season four and the others is that Mike was able to isolate these incidents. His repression and denial of his identity allowed him to compartmentalize it. Mike only had to confront his identity when he was forced to repress it or deny it. Now in season four, Mike is constantly aware of his identity. All of his actions are affected by it.

From when Mike first arrives in Lenora wearing different clothes and acting weird around Will, to every conversation Mike and Will have, Mike’s actions are affected by his identity. Whether that be the concealment of his identity in his fights with El and Will, or in his feelings towards Will affecting how he acts in their relationship. After El is taken into custody, Mike, Will and Jonathan are put under house arrest by the government. With El gone, Mike’s internal conflict is no longer split in between two people in his immediate vicinity. His priorities shift from concealing his identity to finding El. The focus is no longer on Mike’s actions. As a result, Mike focuses less on hiding and this allows for the development of his and Will’s relationship because Mike stops pushing Will away whenever the conversation focuses on Mike. This shift can be seen when Mike initiates a conversation with Will and willingly discusses his own actions.

The apology from Mike to Will happens just before they are shot at and go on the run in Argyle’s pizza van with Jonathan. Mike walks into Will’s room with his bag and Will asks, “Packed already?” and Mike responds, “Yeah, I mean. I never really unpacked.” These lines are meant to alert the viewer of Mike’s unresolved conflict. He got to Lenora and was immediately faced with El and Will. He wasn’t given the chance to sort things out between them. This line indicates that he was going to attempt to work things out. His reluctance to tell El he loves her is also an indication that Mike has been aware of his identity since he and El began sending letters to each other, and that he doesn't want to lie to her about it or that he is unable to lie to her about it. Mike’s fight with El shows us that he doesn’t want to lie to her but he hasn’t figured out how to tell her yet. Mike’s apology to Will shows us that he doesn’t want to lie to Will but he hasn’t figured out how to tell him how he feels. Mike is trying to make things right, but he’s scared to tell them the truth.

Mike, in an attempt to make things right, apologizes to Will. He says, “Thanks by the way… for knocking some sense into me. I was being a total self-pitying idiot.” Mike acknowledges the way that he acted and willingly explains his reasons. He doesn’t tell Will the real reason that he was acting that way but acknowledges that there was a reason. Mike isn’t denying or deflecting the truth in this conversation; he’s confronting it himself. When Will tries to accept some of the blame for how things have gone since Mike arrived, Mike refutes him.

“No. No, no, no, you didn’t deserve anything. Listen, the truth is the last year has been weird, y’know? And I mean, Max and Lucas and Dustin, they-they’re great- they’re great, it’s just- it’s Hawkins. It’s not the same without you.”

In refuting Will, Mike is willingly continuing a conversation about their relationship. He is allowing “the truth” to be the main focus. This is a change from his previous deflection of Will’s attempts to discuss their relationship, and by association, Mike’s identity. Mike’s journey does not end at his own acceptance of his identity. It ends with the expression of his identity. Being in the closet, having a girlfriend, not telling Will how he feels: these are all ways that Mike has become unable to express his queerness. It is not enough for Mike to know about himself. As this is the story of a queer character, acceptance of his own identity is only part of what needs to happen for Mike’s story arc with his personal conflict concerning his identity to be completed. The other part is being visibly queer in society, “coming out” to people that are important to him. Mike still exists within society's standards of acceptable behaviour. He still hasn’t broken the mold created in season one. That is the last thing that needs to happen for Mike’s identity arc to be completed. While this is not resolved in season four, scenes like his apology to Will, are setting up the trajectory he will follow in season five.

Mike’s speech to El when she’s in danger fighting Vecna is prompted by Will. It is not due to his own feelings, but due to societal pressure. Complicating this further, Will tells him that he’s “the heart.” This is what he told Mike when he gave him the painting that he said was commissioned by El. As Mike and Will have been trying to pry answers out of each other throughout all of season four, they’ve also been reading through the lines of what the other is saying. They have been trying to figure out if they will accept the expression of their identity. So, when Will calls Mike “the heart” to push him into talking to El, he is also taking away any hope Mike had that the painting was actually from Will. In season four, Mike is the one to reach out to El to reaffirm their relationship, but unlike prior seasons, he is fully aware of his identity and actively being forced to conform. Mike’s speech doesn’t work because it’s not genuine, and Mike is unable to to fully conceal his identity while he is in a high stress situation, heartbroken, and completely aware that he’s lying. Mike can’t hide his identity anymore. This scene with El is showing us that not only does Mike need to fix his relationships with Will and El, but also that it is becoming more of a problem as time goes on. At the end of season four, Mike’s concealment of his identity is starting to fall apart.

Mike Wheeler in Stranger Things (Conclusion)

In season one Mike learns what society deems unacceptable, that being queer or being perceived as queer is unacceptable. At the end of the season, Mike starts to repress his identity. His actions, which began as unmatched to society, have now fit into how Mike has been told he is supposed to exist. Season two explores Mike’s repression of his identity and his eventual denial as he is made aware of how he does not fit into society. In his denial, he pushes Will away and himself towards El. Mike’s actions in season two, like season one, begin as outside of what is expected from him within society, and ends with Mike matching his actions once again to what is socially acceptable. Season Three is a continuation of that denial and shift in his relationship with Will, and his new relationship with El. Eventually in season three Mike is forced to accept and become fully aware of his identity. His actions don't match with society at the end of season three, indicating this shift. At the end of season three, and through season four, Mike is hiding his queerness; He is in the closet. Now that he is aware of his identity and has been forced to accept it, he is unable to properly match his actions to what is socially acceptable. Mike’s need to express his identity causes his attempts to conceal it to fail. The end of Mike’s arc with his identity will concern his inability to hide it any longer, and his need to express it to others.

#byler #mike wheeler #st analysis #stranger things

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